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This week on the on the rant's docket is the issue of Brand building vs. Star building. I was talking the other day with my friend CW about getting some local strippers involved with a calender and other things. I heard that the manager of the local bar does not want to tell the girls what to do. I got to thinking, you always think of Scores in NYC{Strip Club} or Jezabells in Wichita. You do not hear about certain girls. Reason is some people build brands and others build stars. Combat Sports and most sports in general is where building comes. For instance if you look at WWE, they have John Cena and Batista and others. Then you see the UFC and you hear no names, just brand power.
You look at star building going great in 1980 with Hulk Hogan in the WWF, You have Vince going off and building stars like Hulk and Honky Tonk Man and others such as Macho Man Savage. Vince knew that if you merchandise and build these guys, you can make millions and do tons of live gates and Pay-Per-View dollars. People will pay tons of stuff and make millions in revenue. Think of the 1980's you could not turn on TV and see people like Hogan on TV and see venues like MTV picking up and wanting to get in on the deal or NBC using stuff like Saturday Nights Main Event.
Then you look at UFC's success in the 90's and late 90's and see the era of Tito Ortiz and people like Randy Couture who did not want to sell his naming rights to Zuffa and was nailed out of advertising. Tito had built himself up and took the UFC along for the ride. UFC got into the homes and gotten into people's pocket books, nationwide. Tito Ortiz had been built up and marketed big time and was sent to the moon with money. UFC built Tito to the moon and made tons of money off the backs of Tito.
Looking at what and where star building has done for the UFC, the thing the UFC has done and has done well. You see all the flock of the new stars coming into the UFC and saw guys getting fights and have gotten tons of live gate money and made tons of merchandise sales. The UFC will never have to worry about someone screwing them over and going to another company. They never had to worry about the star getting so big, they leave and make another company, big time. They never have to worry about this, as long as UFC owns the trademark and the company, they can make money hand over fist.
Brand building does not work in WWE and TNA wrestling and is even worse in this area, what I mean here is, WWE builds stars back in the 1980's that I mentioned here earlier. Hulk and others when they had run their course went to WCW and took a small company and became HUGE and could have very well went out of buisness over this. WWE continues to make this mistake by building stars like Cena and others, Vince takes the risk constantly of someone leaving or being fired to go to TNA and help them. WWE and TNA have tried to become this with marketing themselves but people are more activated toward getting to the names and not the brand.
Star building vs. Brand Building is great and can be done in areas and some areas, not as much. You look at NFL and others, they build themselves with the Teams and not the players, you would buy a Cowboys jersey rather than a TO jersey. Or vice versa, buying a Cowboys Jersey cause it's a TO jersey.
[I]-The Jiggy Jaguar-[/I]
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The Jiggy Jaguar Show can be heard Monday Nights on Kjagradio.com
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